Retired prof turns tree stump into proclamation of Baylor pride

A friend of mine noticed it first, right there in Waco’s Castle Heights neighborhood — a live oak tree stump carved into the shape of a bear, complete with paw raised and holding a sign that says “sic ‘em.”

The tree-turned-bear stands in the front yard of Dr. Dick Couey, BA ’63, a Baylor graduate and longtime BU professor. “You cut me, I think I would bleed green and gold, because I love Baylor,” he says. “I just thought about a bear, to let people know that that’s part of my life — being a Baylor Bear.”

Couey earned his bachelor’s in religion from Baylor in 1963 and returned as a professor in 1970, teaching an assortment of classes in anatomy, physiology and nutrition until his retirement in 2007. His family tree also bleeds green and gold, as Couey’s daughter, Suzanne Curtis (BSED ’89, MSED ’92), son-in-law William Curtis (BA ’89, MBA ’91) and son Paul Couey (BS ’93) all graduated from Baylor. The Richard Couey Award for Excellence is even given each year in his honor to a Baylor professor by service fraternity Phi Kappa Chi.